Laying Me to Ruin
by filkcatwearingabell
Summary: ...But trusting you was no one's fault but my own. From a meeting at Founders Day to lying on a roof and staring at constellations, Dipper Pines has been ruining Pacifica for years. An exploration of Pacifica's feelings towards Dipper based on lyrics from Halestorm - The Reckoning. Written for Dipcifica week.


**This was written for day 5 of Dipcifca week on tumblr. The prompt was to write something relating to the lyrics:**

 _ **Laying me to ruin,**_

 _ **You knew what you were doing.**_

 _ **Leaving me just skin and bone,**_

 _ **But trusting you was no one's fault but my own.**_

 **Each section is based on a line and the genre kind of shifts from angst to fluff.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Gravity Falls**

It started on Founder's Day. What she was expecting to be just another smile-at-the-camera gig, just like it had been every other year, took a horrible turn towards ruin when Mabel Pines tried to make a good impression on the people of Gravity Falls. However, looking back, Pacifica could now say that Mabel was not the worst thing to happen that day.

No, that was left to Dipper Pines. Heaven knows what the Pines twins had been doing that day (Mabel _had_ told her but she hadn't bothered paying attention) but somehow they had gotten their hands on a document that exposed her family as frauds. When the weirdo twins started discussing giving her something she paid it no mind; people were always trying to win her favour by giving her gifts, and if she disliked it then it would be all the easier to have the town mock the silly brunette who was beginning to tread on her territory.

But she wasn't prepared for the tap on her window; the slight hint of hostility from those calculating eyes, the subtle smirk as her eyes widened in disbelief or the honest shrug, proving he cared nothing for how this would affect her.

"Nathaniel Northwest didn't found Gravity Falls, and your whole family is a sham. Deal with it!"

With two sentences he had taken the first steps to ruining her reputation, and he seemed to relish it.

A bell rang. Both her screaming and the issue of their past disappeared. But Dipper Pines didn't. Dipper Pines wasn't done with her yet.

oO-0-Oo

When they met at the golf course his hostility was clear. She supposed weeks of unfriendly correspondence between her and his sister had caused it.

He said nothing to her for a long while, too busy cheering on Mabel. He did glare though, apparently the only member of his rag-tag family to notice her. Any ordinary glare Pacifica could brush off, but there was something in his eyes that scared her; an intimidating twinkle focused on her.

"Hey Pacifica! How's that whole 'your family's a fraud' thing working out for you?"

Her blood ran cold. It was his knowledge that scared her. The fact that he knew what she was ,what her family were. The fact that he knew what he could do with that knowledge.

She smiled a perfectly practised smile, ignoring the tight clench in her gut and the judging gaze of her parents.

"Great, actually! That's the thing about money: it makes problems go away!"

oO-0-Oo

When she was desperate and went to the shambles of the Mystery Shack he called her the worst and slammed a door in her face. At first she wondered if he already knew she was lying to him and was calling her out on. It was a ludicrous thought – she hadn't even said anything to him beyond needing his help – and his reappearance moments later convinced her that he wasn't. However, the thought lingered in the back of her mind.

It manifested again later that night when he barged back into the party to confront them. Any camaraderie between them, the warm sensation she had experienced of having a connection with someone that wasn't formed by her parent's money, was lost the moment he declared her a link in the world's worst chain.

It was the sadness in his eyes that broke her and forced her to step forward, to apologise, to explain, to say _anything_ that could amend the situation. It was the ring of a bell that forced her to step back, hands folded in front of her and lips tightly sealed.

But, in spite of his anger, he didn't leave. When the screaming started he didn't go to his sister, didn't go to an adult, he came to her.

He had looked around her family's room of forbidden truths and patted her hand sympathetically. He smiled and with it seemed to put so much of their bad blood behind them. He looked passed the diamond earrings and tailored dress, looked deeper until she felt she was just skin and bones before him; until he could only see her true essence.

"Just because you're your parents' daughter doesn't mean you have to be like them. It's not too late."

She smiled genuinely for the first time in several years.

oO-0-Oo

Pacifica twisted her head slightly. It was easier to see the brunet nerd in his infamous blue hat now, but she could still maintain her guise of looking at the constellations. A small smiled curved her lips up. Maybe if she focused on what little she could see of his birthmark she could claim to still be looking for constellations.

She couldn't remember when she first made the decision to go back to the Mystery Shack after the incident at her mansion (that was a lie; it was raining and his great uncle had coerced her out of $50 just to use their bathroom) but she didn't regret it. Dipper and Mabel had quickly come to welcome her with open arms and she slowly came to the realisation that she had found a new family, one that would never think about ringing a bell, but had no problem dragging her into adventures of untold danger.

Brown eyes darted to look at her and, before she could claim that she wasn't looking, Dipper had rolled onto his side so she had even less trouble seeing him.

"Y'know, I didn't expect you to want to come up to the roof at such short notice. We haven't had time to clean it for you, _your majesty_."

She rolled her eyes and made a noise that sounded somewhat disapproving. Still, she was used to his jibes about her wealth and temperament and decided to let it slide this time.

She turned to look at him properly. Even lying down his height was noticeable. When he had first started growing taller than her she had hated it, but as they got older his hulking great bear hugs managed to outweigh even the fact that he had tried, on multiple occasions, to use her head as a drink stand.

His face was still trained on her, and she could see the scraggly hair that was beginning to form a beard. Sometimes he would rest his chin on her head and his beard would tickle and irritate her until she had to forcibly remove him.

Her eyes flicked up to catch a glimpse of his own. They were half-lidded, giving him a dopey look, but she couldn't help thinking that for once he looked at peace. Mabel had often liked to describe their shared eye colour as chocolate brown, but Pacifica always saw them as more of a tree bark colour. Maybe she was just associating him with the environment he seemed the most alive in. Regardless, she could still spot the twinkle in those eyes. The twinkle that had once filled her with insidious feelings now made her so comfortable because he _did_ know her. He knew everything about her, for better or worse, and he was still there, by her side.

Finally she looked at his lips. It didn't matter what time of year it as, they were always chapped. A by-product of always chewing on them. Pacifica couldn't find it in herself to care, even if twelve years old her would be cringing in disgust. Not once since she started looking at those lips had they lied to her. They weren't like her parents' perfectly plump and smooth lips that always had lies tumbling from them. His lips reassured her, they comforted her, and they fought for her.

She didn't know when she started trusting him so much, whether it was at that night at the party or one of the many other occasions he had saved her life. She also didn't know if that trust would last forever (she was quietly confident it would), but she would blame no one but herself for trusting him.

Pacifica rolled again, bumping into Dipper's chest. Despite the 'oomph' that escaped him, an arm still wrapped itself around her waist, pulling her closer so she could benefit from the taller teen's warmth. Instinctively she keened upwards towards his lips.

"Isn't it obvious, Pines? You ruined me."

He grinned, letting her know that his following words bared no malice. "I liked to think of it more as 'self-improvement', but sure, blame me why don't you."

She smiled in return when his lips pressed against her forehead.

"I never said it was a bad thing."


End file.
